What if?
by StarryNightengale88
Summary: While doing paperwork with El, a recent case causes Liv to contemplate her life. Just a little one shot that popped into my head.


**Disclaimer: **Law and Order: SVU along with its components belong to Dick Wolf.

**Author's Note: ** In this one-shot Liv is contemplating her life- what if she had a so-called normal life instead of what she endured growing up, and what if she wasn't an SVU detective with the life she has now. This' just a little something that popped into my head tonight after yet another work-related frustration. Also, I am still working on Sweet Little Lies; the newest chapters should be up soon, though I still have no idea for an ending. Happy Reading!

What If

Outside the 1-6, the sun slowly sets on another unusually warm January day in Manhattan. Folks all around the brick station house rush to enjoy every remaining minute of this gorgeous Wednesday with their families, kids, and pets. People are happy, carefree, for a moment the cruelties of life are forgotten. Inside the 1-6 however, Elliot and Olivia remain glued to their desks attempting in a futile fashion to devour the piles of paperwork that lay upon them. This is how they have spent their entire day after Cragen ordered them to finish ALL of the paperwork or else.

Olivia signs her name at the bottom of the file she has been working on then officially deems it complete, adding it to the much smaller stack of finished work. Now, she takes the next file from the pile and begins to read. It is a case from October; she remembers it clearly: the stereotypical American family living the American dream only to have their world shatter when Mrs. Anderson's path just so happened to cross with that of now convicted serial rapist and murderer Danny Wright. Upon meeting them Olivia couldn't help but be jealous, even under the circumstances of their meeting. The Andersons were everything a family was supposed to be and much more- everything that Olivia had longed for her entire life yet still does not have.

Liv looks up from the file and out the window across the squad room. Through the dirty glass Olivia can see the sky changing into a kaleidoscope of colors as the sun sets. As she stares out the window she wonders to herself just how the Andersons came to be so perfect as well as simply how they came to be at all; she is nowhere remotely close to having what they had. Was it fate? Did destiny play a role? Or was it simply luck? Turning her head to Elliot, his face buried in the file before him, Liv wonders now what would have become of the Andersons if Mary had not met Jeff that fateful day in chemistry class. Would they have married other people, would they have moved to Manhattan, or would Liv be filling out the paperwork for the case dealing with Mrs. Anderson's brutal rape and murder?

Looking back down now, Olivia reads further into the file still not able to shake the mirage of questions from her mind. What if she had been Mrs. Anderson? What if she, Olivia Benson, had a so-called normal family, what if her own family had two kids, a dog, a cat, and a wonderful husband? And, what if Serena had been a loving mother to her instead of a disapproving alcoholic? A largely audible sigh escapes Olivia drawing Elliot's attention.

"You okay Liv?"

"Huh, you say something El?" Liv asks, looking up at her partner.

"Yeah, you okay?"

"Just thinking" she half answers, her mind continuing to wonder.

"Bout' what?"

"El, what if our lives were different?"

"Different how?" El asks curiously.

"I mean, what if my mother was a real mother? What if I chose a different career?

What if I lived in a different city or state, what if I had a family, a husband, a house…"

"Whoa Liv, where is this coming from all of a sudden? You're not thinking of leaving are you?"

Elliot is beginning to get a bit nervous now.

"I just wonder, you know? I mean why do things have to be the way they are? Is this our destiny? What about our fate?"

Liv throws even more questions at Elliot with no signs of slowing down or stopping. Elliot rolls his chair around the desks so he is on Olivia's side. She turns towards him so they are knee- to-knee. He places a soft hand on her knee while looking her in the eye.

"I have always believed that our destinies are laid out for us Liv. God has a plan for each of us, and you and I being here taking perps off the street are a part of it. Liv, after knowing you for eleven years now, I am convinced more than even that we were meant to meet, and you were meant to be my partner as well as my best friend."

"Wow El. That's, you really believe that? But how do you know?" Liv asks still needing some convincing.

"Olivia, trust me when I say that some things you just know. And other things you figure out along the way."

Olivia is quiet for a moment while she contemplates what Elliot has just told her. In her heart she knows he is right. Until now she has never thought of things this way, especially not her and El's relationship, but it all makes sense to her now. It had to be fate, destiny, or a part of some larger plan that led her to this life and to Elliot, whom she cannot see her life without.

"El, you are absolutely right."

"Yep. Now, we haven't eaten since around noon so how about we go grab some dinner. We can continue this it you want?" El asks.

"Yeah, we can finish this paperwork after we eat."

Both detectives stand and turn towards the door. El swings and arm around Liv who swings her arm around him in return. Then they head for the exit as Olivia turns to Elliot smiling sweetly.

"Destiny isn't so bad after all El."

"No, it is a great thing." El replies, smiling at Liv as they step onto the now open elevator headed down.

THE END


End file.
